Unicef ambassador Orlando Bloom meets Zelenskyy in Kyiv
Kyiv, Mar 27 (EFE).- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with the British actor and Unicef Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom, who promised to support the country in the reconstruction of infrastructure to meet the needs of children.
The “Lord of the Rings” star will promote the arrival of “humanitarian aid and infrastructure reconstruction projects aimed at ensuring the interests of Ukrainian children,” according to a statement posted to Zelenskyy’s presidential website on Monday.
“Among the priorities are also the development of the system of family care for children deprived of parental care, the development of infrastructure for early childhood development, as well as the creation of youth projects and startups,” it added.
In the meeting with the Ukrainian head of state, the actor reportedly said he was “impressed by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians who, despite the war, remain strong.”
Zelenskyy stressed the importance of creating a safe environment for Ukrainian children, both those who are in the country and those forced to leave, and asked Bloom to direct efforts to provide bomb shelters for schools.
“Of course, providing schools with bomb shelters is a big challenge. During the war, material support for such initiatives is of particular importance to us, because we focus all our efforts on the defense of our state,” he added.
During his trip, Bloom visited the cities of Kyiv and Irpin, as well as the town of Demydiv, near Kyiv, “where he saw the terrible consequences of the war that has been going on in our country for over a year,” the note said.
The meeting was also attended by the head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak; Advisor – President’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights and Children’s Rehabilitation Daria Herasymchuk, and the Unicef team, led by Head of the Fund’s Mission to Ukraine Murat Shahin.
The meeting participants also discussed the return of Ukrainian children who were taken to Russia by Moscow’s troops, and Zelenskyy called on Unicef to help with this issue.
Just 324 of at least 16,200 children estimated to have been removed from Ukraine and held by Russia have so far returned to the country as families, voluntary foundations and the state treat each case separately in the absence of a single mechanism for their repatriation, according to the humanitarian foundation “Save Ukraine.” EFE
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